General Settlement Fund Employee Fights Back Against False Allegations

22 Mar 2017

Action Filed Against Publicist Stephan Templ.

An employee of the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism has filed an action against Stephan Templ at Vienna’s Commercial Court. Stephan Templ was convicted of committing serious fraud relating to a restitution case. The petitioner is seeking an injunction and the public retraction of false and defamatory/libellous allegations that Templ made repeatedly during the course of the criminal proceedings against him, while serving his sentence, and even following his release. These legal measures are taken in close consensus with the parliamentary directorate and the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism, both of whom fully support the employee’s actions.

Stephan Templ has made false and defamatory/libellous allegations in conjunction with his conviction on a regular basis. These allegations have been directed at the staff of the General Settlement Fund; at the Arbitration Panel established with the General Settlement Fund; at the General Settlement Fund; and at the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism.

Stephan Templ’s allegations include the false assertion that the petitioner unlawfully served an application to third parties instead of to the Republic of Austria; at the same time he also accused her of collaborating with what he described as “the Holocaust business” on behalf of the Arbitration Panel. In addition, Templ alleged that the General Settlement Fund employee had wrongfully “seriously incriminated” him before the court, insinuating that she had lied under oath and thereby accusing her of having committed a punishable offence.

Given the persistent and continuing nature of these false allegations the employee of the General Settlement Fund sees no alternative option but to bring an action against Mr. Stephan Templ. It is not the first civil case to be brought against the defendant in conjunction with the restitution: his aunt, for instance, sued him for damages and won at all stages of the appeals process. She has since – with the aid of the enforcement courts – been engaged in attempts to obtain from him the payment of the sum that was awarded to her.

The General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism was established in 2001 to provide a comprehensive resolution to open questions of compensation for victims of National Socialism. The Arbitration Panel was installed at the General Settlement Fund to examine applications for in rem restitution of publicly-owned property. The National Fund provides administrative assistance to the General Settlement Fund in the execution of its tasks. Both funds are organizationally connected to the Parliament.